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Prof David Stephens

Professor of International Education

contact:
Education
Falmer
Brighton
BN1 9PH

Telephone: +44 (0)1273 643420

Email: D.Stephens@brighton.ac.uk

Research Interests

  • Role of Culture in Education and Development
  • International Policy Development in Education
  • Quality of Basic Education and reconstruction of education systems
  • Narrative and biographical research methodologies

Teaching

  • Research Methodology
  • Comparative and International Education
  • Course leader MA Education.

Biography

David Stephens is Professor of International Education in the Education Research Centre at the University of Brighton. For more than 30 years he has worked in the area of international education either in Northern universities (Sussex, London, and Oslo) or in the South (Kenya, Ghana, South Africa, Nigeria, South East Asia) on programmes to improve the quality of Basic Education and teacher education. He has a particular interest in the role of culture in the development process, and worked for a number of years as chair of the international charity Child-to-Child.
His current research is exploring the role of narrative in International Education.
He also has experience as a consultant to the international donor community and for two years (1994-1996) worked as DfID education adviser in Ghana. From 1999-2004 he was professor of international education in Oslo during which time he led two funded research projects looking at Schooling and Cultural Values in South Africa. He has recently published a book on Culture in Education and Development qualitative research methodology in international settings for Falmer Press and an edited volume examining 25 years of UK Higher Education links with the global South.
He is a founder editor of the International Journal of Educational Development.

Current and recent research projects

2010 - 2012
  • Rhodes University - Visiting Research Fellow : researching teacher life histories
  • International research on the role of narratives in education and development
2008-2010
  • Save the Children, Norway Evaluation of the Quality of Education in 4 sub-Saharan African countries
  • Government of South Africa/Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs special fund for Africa. Grant: £85,000 HIV/AIDS and the Teaching Profession in South Africa. Collaboration with UCT & UWC
2001-2004
  • Norwegian Research Council Grant: £180,000 Schooling and Cultural Values in Africa Collaboration with UCT & UWC
1998-2000
  • DfID Grant: £10,000 Children and Health Education: an examination of the partnership between adults and children in different cultural contexts in relationship to comprehensive school health education. (In collaboration with Dr. P.Pridmore ULIE)
1997-2001
  • DfID Co-director Multi-Site Teacher Education Research Project (MUSTER) Grant:£350,000 Five country study of teacher education costs, curriculum and induction into the profession.

Consultancy

  • Evaluation of Development Assistance Programmes e.g. Laos (2001, 2007), Afghanistan (2002)
  • Quality of Basic Education e.g. UNESCO (2003), Vietnam (2002)
  • International Teacher Education e.g. Trinidad (1999), Ghana (1997) DfID Adviser Ghana (1994-96)
  • Research Methods e.g. Philippines (1999), Israel (1998)
  • Health Education and Development e.g. Ghana (1997).

Selected Recent Publications

Books

  • Stephens, D (2013 forthcoming) International Education and Development: A Narrative Approach. Routledge: London
  • Stephens, D (Ed.) (2009) Higher Education and Capacity Building - 25 years of Higher Education Links Programme Symposium Books. Oxford
  • Stephens, D (2009) Qualitative Research in International Settings. Routledge/Falmer. London
  • Stephens, D (2006) Culture in Education and Development: Principles, Practice and Policy. Symposium Books. Oxford
  • Stephens, D (1999) with Pridmore, P Children as Partners in Health: A Critical review of the Child-to-Child Approach. Zed Books London
  • Stephens, D (1990) with Vulliamy, G. and Lewin, K. Doing Educational Research in Developing Countries: qualitative strategies, Falmer Press, Lewes.

Journal Articles (peer reviewed)

  • Stephens, D (2012) with Traher, 8 'just because I'm from Africa, they'll expect me to do narrative research' in New Directions in Narrative Research edited by Goodson, i; Loveless, A & Stephens, D. Sense; Rotterdam
  • Stephens, D (2012) 'the Role of Culture in interpreting and conducting research' in Ann Briggs et.al. Research Methods in Educational leadership & Management 3rd Edition Sage: London
  • Stephens, D (2008) Comparitive and Cultural Perspectives on Educational Reform, KASBIT Business Journal
  • Stephens, D (2007) with Kutnick,K et.al. ‘Improving Classroom teaching and learning in Commonwealth National Contexts: three key ideas’ Position paper Commonwealth Secretariat, London
  • Stephens, D (2005) ‘Culture in Educational Research in Africa: From the Methodological to the Practical’ in The Methodological Challenges of Researching Education and Skills Development in Africa. Edited by Daniel Hammett & Ruth Wedgwood. Centre for African Studies, University of Edinburgh.

Conference Articles (peer reviewed)

  • Stephens, D (2005) ‘Education and Learning for All in Sub-Saharan Africa: issues of quality and context? A Case Study from South Africa’. Paper at 8th UKFIET Conference on Education and Development: Learning and Livelihood 13-15 September University of Oxford
  • Stephens, D (2005) with Edwards, G & Turnbull, S ‘Developing Leaders for Sustainable Development: An investigation into the impact and outcomes of a UK-based Masters programme’. Paper at 8th UKFIET Conference on Education and Development: Learning and Livelihood 13-15 September University of Oxford
  • Stephens, D (2005) ‘Education and Learning for All in Sub-Saharan Africa: issues of quality and context? A Case study from South Africa’. Paper at Education for Rural People in Sub-Saharan Africa: Livelihoods Approaches seminar. University of East Anglia, School of Development Studies. March 17 2005.

Other publications (not peer reviewed)

  • Stephens, D (2006) Pilot Evaluation of the educational impact of wearer adjusted spectacles (adspecs) within the Ghana National Functional Literacy Programme of the Non-Formal Education Division of the Ministry of Education and Sports. Evaluation for DfID/Adaptive Eyecare Limited, Oxford.